October was officially declared as National Arts and Humanities Month by President Obama back in 2009. Artober is a month-long event starting Oct. 1 that highlights the talents and art resources in Sacramento and celebrates the meaning of the month. It will include local artists, businesses, art walks, festivals, workshops and other special events in Old Sacramento and the downtown area. Last year, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced that the For Arts’ Sake Coalition would be introducing a new action plan for the Sacramento area. A team of 20 artists and art enthusiasts worked to bring resources together such as getting organizations and businesses involved in the process of making the public a

With Concerts in the Park kicking off Friday and the California Music Circus season around the corner, there will be lots of opportunities to review shows, both indoors and outdoors. Looking to share your great or not-so-great experiences with others? The Sacramento Press will hold a panel on review writing at our office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, May 12. Three panelists will teach you the do’s and don’ts of review writing and share some of their own experiences. This is a great opportunity to ask the pros how they review concerts, theater, comedy and other performances. The three panelists are Rachel Leibrock, Carla Meyer and Nick Miller. Leibrock writes about arts and culture for t

Today at noon, The Sacramento Bee's Allen Pierleoni will host a live chat with Rick Mindermann of Corti Bros. and John Paul Khoury of Preferred Meats, Inc. Visit sacbee.com/live from noon - 1 p.m. to ask questions relating to "What's new in the Sacramento food scene?" The live chat is a preview of what will be discussed at Table Talk Sacramento, April 13. Read more about Table Talk Sacramento here. Click here to go to the Bee's Live Chat page.

Do you love talking about food? Do you flip to the food section of the newspaper before even reading the front page? Is a trip to the grocery store an excursion? For all you foodies, bloggers and lovers of Sacramento’s restaurants and food: The Sacramento Bee and The Sacramento Press have teamed up to bring you “Table Talk Sacramento: The region’s food community comes together for an evening of lively discussion.” There will be two panels addressing different topics, including “What Sacramentans Eat” and the quality of local food writing. Chris Macias will moderate the food writing panel. Macias has served as the Bee’s food and wine writer since 2008. The panelists include: Niesha Lofin

The Sacramento Bee announced its decisions on 32 staff cuts Thursday. Early in the afternoon, management was still in the process of notifying those who are being laid off after an undisclosed number of employees took buyouts. The employees' last day will be Friday, Feb. 18. "Our goals were reached with a combination of voluntary and involuntary methods," Bee Community Affairs Director Pam Dinsmore said. Nine people will be leaving the newsroom, and a full-time critic job will become part-time. Jobs were also cut in advertising, circulation, support, finance and building services. It's too early to say what changes will be made in the paper to accommodate the staff loss, she said. Sev

The mood in The Sacramento Bee's newsroom has been grim this week after its parent, the McClatchy Company, announced another 32 jobs will soon be cut. Management notified 32 people on Monday that they were facing layoffs unless others agreed to take buyout packages. Dozens of people have since been asked to consider accepting buyouts that amount to two weeks' severance pay for every year worked, up to 40 weeks. Their responses are due by 10 a.m. Tuesday morning. Announcements about the layoffs are expected soon after, Bee Community Affairs Director Pam Dinsmore said. "We're calling it a job elimination, so it means those jobs are going away," she said. Newsroom employees are still "ree

The best of local theater talent was recognized last Sunday night at the Elly Awards. After presenting the young people’s awards, there was an intermission, and then the adult awards were presented. Selected musicians from the Runaway Stage Productions’ Resident Orchestra played the audience back into the Crest Theatre’s main auditorium. The orchestra had been provided transitional music, played the winners on to the stage and had accompanied the live musical performances all evening. “Dreigroschen Finale,” performed by the California Stage cast, started the Elly adult theater portion of the evening. The performance showcased the Elly Award-winning costuming by Angelina Reaux. All the m

California Lectures opened its 2010-2011 Season Monday night with what was billed as a special event, “An Evening with David Plouffe in conversation with Dan Morain.” The timing of this lecture could not have been better. With the 2010 midterm elections having become so contentious and being looked at as a referendum on President Barack Obama’s first two years in office, eyes are back on Plouffe to see if he can continue his success he had in helping get Obama elected in the first place. David Plouffe along with political strategist David Axelrod are credited with “creating and executing” the “blueprint” the got Obama elected. He published “The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lesso

Sunday evening’s show was nearly sold out at the new Arden Playhouse, a wonderful 150-seat venue that opened in March. All ages were represented in the audience. Were they waiting for the curtain opening on the latest play?   No – the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance (SARTA) was announcing the 2010 Elly nominees. The Elly Awards are named for the late Eleanor McClatchy, a devoted patron of the arts and former publisher of The Sacramento Bee. The Elly Awards celebrate excellence and the outstanding achievements of community theaters and artists in the greater Sacramento area. Elly Award nominations included Lead and Supporting Actor and Actress, Director, Costume Design, Lightin

“Funny Girl” is a star maker. It made a star out of Barbara Streisand first on Broadway, then in film. Vicki Lewis most certainly shines as Fanny Brice the title “Funny Girl” in this the latest Music Circus production of the show. Everything in the play centers on the character of Fanny Brice. Brice herself was one of the biggest stars of her time. From 1910 through the 1930s on stage, screen and radio, Brice was wildly popular and influential. Legendary Broadway producer David Merrick worked with lyricist Jule Styne and equally well-known composer Bob Merrill to turn what had started as a screenplay into a Broadway musical. Having seen Streisand in her first role on Broadway in “I Can

In case you missed the June 22 Paying for Content panel put on by The Sacramento Bee and The Sacramento Press, you will have the chance to see it on Access Sacramento, Channel 17 at the following dates and times: Sunday, July 4 at 10 p.m. (and repeated Monday at 2 p.m.) Sunday, July 11 at 5 p.m. (and repeated Monday at 9 a.m.) To read the recap, written by Agnus-Dei Farrant, click here.

In light of recent KCRA coverage, Old Sacramento’s Ten 22 restaurant is bringing back its "You Be the Judge" promotion. The offer was announced by Ten 22 Partner Terry Harvego, who appeared in a taped-segment for a story on Blair Anthony Robertson, food critic for The Sacramento Bee, on Thursday. From today through Sunday, just say the words, "I'll be the judge," and you’ll receive a 50 percent discount on the following menu items: salmon entrée, slow-braised baby back ribs, Hearty burger, any pizza and mac & cheese. The offer – the latest of two – is a direct response to a review Robertson wrote last month. In the review, Robertson referred to the food as “free range - that is, ranging

As the influential “Fourth Branch of Government” the Press impacts our understanding of all topics. So how is the media here in Sacramento addressing the topic of sustainability? Attendees of the next Sacramento Sustainability Forum (SSF) will have the opportunity to ask that question, find out what key members of our local media are doing themselves to be more sustainable, and learn about how these news leaders view the sustainability of their industry. The Sacramento Sustainability Forum has assembled a panel of local media leaders that includes: Joe Barr, News Director – Capital Public Radio, Ben Ilfeld, Co-Founder and Operations Manager – The Sacramento Press, Michael Sanford, VP of C

The Sacramento Bee and other McClatchy newspapers are making another round of job cuts. The Bee announced Monday it will cut 25 people by month's end, while McClatchy newspapers including North Carolina's News & Observer and The State in South Carolina announced additional layoffs. The total number of layoffs at the country's third largest newspaper company was not available. Reporters will not be among those cut at The Bee, although the paper will lose a photojournalist, two copy editors, two designers and two others in the newsroom, said Pam Dinsmore, the paper's community affairs director. "We've made the decision that the reporting staff — that's not a place that can go down in any

I have never heard of a newspaper anywhere in the United States that has been so tormented by the truth as I have of the Sacramento Bee. In late 1990 Raley's published and distributed their so-called account of Tom Raley's success story. Then on March 4, 1991, The Sacramento Bee did an article about Raley’s, their success and the man who they had been told and believed had created their success, CEO Chuck Collings. That was the one-two punch that made us come out fighting. What Raley's and the Sacramento Bee wrote were fighting words and we began fighting for the truth. In Raley's history book and the Bee article, Collings was basking in his self proclaimed glory that he was the savior o

 When homeless looking man Frank Nordby realized that if what he believed was true, then an incredible injustice had taken place. He felt if a billion dollars could create this horrible injustice maybe it's possible to tip the scales of justice with a little incentive for anyone who would be willing to investigate his story and prove him wrong. So with the David vs Goliath state of mind,  Frank began offering a $100,000 dollar reward in his quest for the truth. All anyone had to do was disprove with evidence the following claim by our father Charles Nordby:                                                              "I saved Tom Raley's company from going bankrupt" A simple claim with a

Sacramento journalist R.E. Graswich is not sad to leave his 37-year journalism career for a new job as special assistant to Mayor Kevin Johnson. “I figure I got one last shot in life here to do something worthwhile as opposed to what you guys do,” he joked while addressing reporters Tuesday. Graswich, 54, left a 35-year career at The Sacramento Bee in 2007. In the two years following his departure from the Bee, he took up “wonderful chances” to work as a co-anchor at KFBK and commentator at KOVR CBS 13, he said. Now, though, he wants to work in the political arena. This is his first week working as a staffer at City Hall in the special assistant position with a salary of $80,000. At Joh

Sacramento-based McClatchy Co. on Tuesday announced a surge in second-quarter earnings following the latest round of company-wide downsizing. More cutbacks are still in the works to staunch a continued loss in revenue. Next week, members of the editorial employee union at The Sacramento Bee, the company's flagship, will vote on a proposal to use accrued vacation days rather than face unpaid furloughs this year. However, a small amount of hiring is still taking place. Net quarterly profit rose to $42.2 million, up from $19.7 million in the second quarter of 2008. Per-share earnings grew to 50 cents, up from 24 cents for the same period last year, according to the report released Tuesday

The current fear goes something like this: "If the newspapers disappear, so does all the real original reporting with it." The basic charge is that there is no business model for "giving away" news online, because online revenue is too miniscule and newspapers spend an enormous amount to get us that amazing original content. The trouble is that a lot of those assumptions are just plain false. Once you start delving into the numbers those assumptions begin to wash away. For instance, what does an average major daily pay, in terms of a percentage of its overall budget, for its editorial department? While one's inclination may be to assume that it is a huge portion, the reality is that the

This survey was conducted of The Sacramento Bee, from Monday, March 23rd to Sunday, March 29th. The aim of the survey was to pinpoint how much of the written content of The Bee was written by The Bee and of that content how much was local and how much was not. Each day was divided into the sections of the paper. Sections of the paper that had no attributable articles were simply not included. Within each section, all the different publications were separated out on to their own lines, with special lines for local Bee content and McClatchy content (from the Washngton bureau, or a foreign bureau). Each mark per line denotes an attribution for a piece of text. Shortcomings of this survey: